Sorority Fundraiser - Selling Sorority Stuff in a Yardsale

Sorority Yard Sales: Selling Old Sorority Stuff for a Good Cause

Walk around the sorority house, especially in your sisters’ rooms and what do you see? Lots of sorority stuff cluttering up bookshelves, closets, dressers, and more, right? All of this extra sorority stuff sitting around can be a great fundraiser for your philanthropy or even your next event.

If you are considering having a yard sale as a fundraiser, you need to plan ahead and get your whole sorority on board. You will also need to check with your local city government to find out what you legally need to do beforehand. Planning should start at least 6 months ahead of time.

The first thing to do when considering a sorority yard sale is to figure out if you have enough quality sorority stuff to sell. Remember, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” so may be surprised what kinds of your sorority stuff people will buy, especially when it is to support your cause. It may help to start by setting aside a room your house for your sisters to start placing their sorority stuff for the yard sale.

Once you determine that there is enough of your sorority stuff available for sale, you can then decide on a date for your yard sale. Most likely your event will be outside, so you will need to plan on having your event during a time of year where people will feel comfortable outdoors. Early Fall and late Spring are great times for a sorority yard sale. Nicer days bring more people to buy your sorority stuff.

When you know your date for your yard sale fundraiser, contact your City Hall to find out if you need a permit. Having a yard sale is no different than having a bonfire or outdoor concert. The city needs to approve your activity, so there may be a small fee for your yard sale permit. Once you have your date set you need to send out advertising to the other Greek houses and even the community. Flyers and web postings are a great way to get the word out.

Now that you have your sorority stuff and your date, you then need to begin planning your layout and pricing. Try to organize your sorority stuff by the types of items so that the people who show up will be able to find things easily. If you decide that you also want to have some brand new sorority stuff for sale, make sure you have a section designated for it. For instance, you can have a section on glassware, furnishings, clothing, picture frames, etc. Plus, you will need to have at least two checkout tables.

Organization, though, is only one aspect of your yard sale. When looking around at all that sorority stuff, you need to consider pricing. Now, there will be some people who try to overprice, but remember, you want to sell your sorority stuff for profit. That means you have to price it to sell. You will want to purchase little price stickers from your local office supply store, and have your sisters help in putting price tags on all the sorority stuff. However, in some cases like t-shirts, you can put a general price on a box and put the items in there. For instance, you can have the “$2 a t-shirt” box.

On the day of the yard sale, make sure you have enough time to set up your tables and boxes in the morning. It helps to have a map of your yard sale and assign sorority sisters to certain tasks or types of sorority stuff. Since it will be a long day, you may also want to develop a schedule for each sorority sister to follow.

Being flexible is also a part of having a sorority yard sale. You will need to learn that people will bargain over sorority stuff, so be willing to go down in price. Also, have a few people free to take care of any unseen events that may come up.

Having a sorority yard sale can help your sorority on a number of levels. Most importantly it will help your chapter make money for your philanthropy, next event, or other need. Yet, selling all that extra sorority stuff will also help clear your chapter house of a lot of unnecessary clutter. Sorority yard sales – a multi-purpose event!